Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua went on a Twitter rampage yesterday in reaction to a story The Daily Beast published on Olympic athletes using Grindr at the Rio games.
The story, "The Other Olympic Sport in Rio: Swiping," written by Nico Hines, garnered such a negative reaction that the piece was taken down, and The Daily Beast published an apology.
Beforehand, however, Fonua wanted to make sure his voice could be heard on behalf of all gay athletes. The out gay swimmer representing Tonga tweeted a set of angry and frustrated messages to Nico Hines and The Daily Beast, expressing the difficulty of being an out athlete, and the dangerous privilege that comes with being able to out another person.
@thedailybeast & @NicoHines don't realize this drags us gays in sports back 10 steps. You invaded both privacy & people's truth. Fuck you!!!
-- Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines & @thedailybeast 1 of the guys you just outed is only 18 years old... I was 18 once & nowhere near ready to come out, fuck you.
-- Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
The Tongan swimmer also posted a racy Instagram following his tweet storm, giving The Daily Beast and Nico Hines the "hot ass" he thought they were looking for. Now that's how to end a Twitter smackdown.
